Searched and Known

When God searches, he is not seeking opportunities to incriminate or entrap us.

“O Lord, you have searched me and known me!” (Psalm 139:1)

Photo by Tycho Atsma on Unsplash

Several years ago, when I worked in youth ministry, we took the students away for a fall retreat. Some of the kids were chronic pranksters and brought with them the tools of the trade (shaving cream, super glue, etc.). Some of us leaders caught wind of their intended shenanigans and decided to search their rooms so as to eliminate chaos, mess, and hurt feelings. The culprits, of course, were outraged and defensive. To be searched was to be found guilty.

It wasn’t so long ago that I read Psalm 139:1 with the attitude of those teenaged pranksters: “O Lord, you have searched me and known me!” This made me afraid. I knew what God would find if he searched the depths of my heart. To be searched was to be found guilty of pride, of anger, of lust, of all sorts of sins.

What Psalm 139 describes, though, is not a threatening, condemning God. When he searches, he is not seeking opportunities to incriminate or entrap us. The psalm describes the depths of God’s understanding and closeness. It goes on to describe the breadth of his knowledge. It describes how he protects us and leads us. This is not a God seeking retribution. This is a God deeply caring for his people. He doesn’t hold his knowledge of us over our heads, rather he holds us close with it.

We are guilty. We are sinners. But to be searched and known by God is what frees us from our sins once we realize and rest in His goodness.